Georgine Olson says:

I understand how you feel. My granddaughters school has had a lock down this year, however the kids didn’t even know about it until it was over. The doors at their school are always locked, entrance only by ringing a bell and let in by the secretary. My oldest daughter works at a large University in our city and they have had training for violence on the campus. I miss the days of my youth, I’m sure there was violence but not like we have today. I spend a lot of time praying for my family’s safety everyday.

The first time I read an account by a US teacher of a lockdown drill I couldn’t believe what I was reading. The next day I sat in my Nursery classroom – looking at my beautiful, lively 3 and 4 year olds playing – and tried to imagine hiding in a cupboard with them. Trying to keep them quiet. Being in fear for their lives. I dissolved into tears. The Dunblane school massacre happened in 1996, when I was a young teacher. The children killed that day were the same age as the class I was teaching. For days afterwards I would look at their faces and imagine a gunman. It was devastating. But something happened, there was an inquiry, handguns were banned and since then there has been ONE mass shooting. Of course there are still guns in circulation. Criminals and gangs still commit violent crimes. There are still crime related shootings. But I don’t live in fear and I don’t have practice pushing my little pupils into a cupboard. I just do not understand why a civilised country could let the situation continue.

Erin says:

Becca says:

Agreed. The horrible thing here is that I fear the more this keeps happening the less likely change will come. We’re so accustomed.. so desensitized. It’s so sad.
I work in a municipality and every time someone comes to the front counter I imagine what I would do if they pulled out a gun. I attend Planning Board meetings and wonder what I would do if a disgruntled citizen were to show up yielding a gun. It’s so sad that these are not signs of paranoia – but a 100% totally fair concern. I. Hate. Guns. Every single one of them. I heard some 160,000 guns were legally purchased on Black Friday. America the Beautiful..

Shea says:

Amen. I completely agree. What will it take? When do we decide enough is enough? When will people accept it can be a mental health issue AND our obsession with guns that is causing this? When will our politicians grow enough backbone to no longer fear pissing off the NRA? When will people realize sensible gun regulations and the second amendment are not mutually exclusive? We can have both, no one is trying to “take away all guns.” So many questions, so few answers. Though ever since kindergarteners and first-graders were gunned down in their classrooms and we did nothing, I haven’t held out much hope. Maybe cynical, but true.

Julia says:

If we are angry, if we want something to be done, we can’t just talk about it with one another (as healing as that may be). Turn your voices towards our elected officials. The NRA’s cash is deep within the pocketbook of a good portion of our politicians. They will only offer their “thoughts and prayers” unless we get loud and we demand. Thoughts and prayers mean well but they are not working. We need action.

I work at a Big Ten university and I’m tired of being scared at work. I’ve taken training, have a mental escape route, but that is not enough. When does my right to life start to mean more than an outdated, antiquated amendment? Long gone are the days when we needed to defend ourselves with a well-regulated militia and muskets. This will keep happening, it will keep being “another day in the United States of America” (as the BBC called yesterday) unless we get loud.

Right on all counts. The NRA has big pocketbooks. We don’t. We only have our vote. The least we could do for ourselves is use it to tell politicians “I won’t vote for you if you ever supported the NRA”.

DefendUSA says:

Politics or the NRA is not the problem. The problem is two-fold.
The Center for Security Policy has done research in regard to Terrorism. If a Mosque is handing out pamphlets and info on committing Jihad-killing “infidels” ask the question- Is this compatible with American Values? Not religion, but American Values. We, as a Country are not going to stop Muslims from killing Americans if they view us as the “infidels” and we keep pretending they are a religion of peace. All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists have been Muslim.
Secondly, CA, NY, IL have the strictest gun control laws on the books. This is not the NRA’s fault. The laws are already on the books. The problem is that criminals can still get guns. The mentally ill can still get guns. Chicago has had 2700 shootings this year and 339 murders. Read about Chicago’s gun laws.
And it will not stop until we recognize the truth. The truth that many Muslims already in this country want to commit Jihad. That is truth. It took 2 people yesterday to murder and injure 31. Nadal Hasaan murdered 19 people at Ft. Hood and we had to wait 6 years for it to be called a terror attack as opposed to work place violence.
It won’t stop until we begin to treat the mentally ill without whispering and face it head on with treatment facilities which have been nearly eradicated because of PC.
I speak from experience on that. My cousin was three years older than myself. She had been mentally ill for her whole life. She shot up a condo and pretended to be FBI. She should have been committed. She did not go to jail. My Aunt could not get guardianship because the laws protected my cousin. We were lucky that L didn’t hurt anyone. She eventually saved enough meds, living independently… to kill herself 3 years ago.
And, I have three cousins who survived Newtown. (I am originally from CT). Adam Lanza’s mother could not get the help she needed because the laws protected her son and not the victims, in this case. Read the laws on the books.
Tragedies like this are senseless to those of us with rational minds. There is not a lack of helpless feelings, followed by the need to do something productive in response. No one likes it, but it is reality. We all need to know what to do, just in case.
When our children were Annabel’s age, we taught them rules of safety without them knowing they could be harmed.
One: if any of her friends somehow get a gun and then brings it out in her presence, you tell her to quietly excuse herself, but make sure that she knows to find an adult and not to stop until she does.
As for school and what you know could happen? You can use the same tactic. “Now that you are a big girl going to school, there are things you should pay attention to. Start with what to do for a fire because there are fire safety things at school…and then you can go further without alarming her. We did it. It wasn’t until 9/11 that we had a harder time with explanations…and by that I mean we told the truth, no sugarcoat.
At the time, Kid 3 was 4 and when she was on the potty, she started yelling to me. “Mommy, 3000 people is more than 50 hundred of my school.” She understood in her way what happened and reacted accordingly. Sometimes that’s the best you’ve got.

You want to blame this on mental health? You’re barking up the wrong tree,

“The American Journal of Public Health, points to studies that show people with mental illness are more likely to be victims — not perpetrators — of violence, and that very few violent acts — about 3 to 5 percent — are carried out by the mentally ill. And while mental illness can be a contributor to some violent behaviors, other factors — such as substance abuse, poverty, history of violence, and access to guns — are much stronger predictors of violence and shootings.”http://www.vox.com/2015/6/23/8833529/mental-illness-mass-shootings

DefendUSA says:

Heather…You missed the meaning. I was talking about what I tell my children in regard to bad things. And sadly, Muslims committed Jihad in CA.
Whomever referred to the NRA and their money…keep following where the trail leads. Congress. Sigh. I tell what I know to be true and thus, told it’s an opinion. It’s a touchy subject.

DefendUSA says:

You’re right. I stand corrected. I said that. Show me your proof that the terrorist attacks in this country were not committed by Muslims. The Pentagon, The Towers in 93 and 2001.The flights that went down…Ft.Hood? Boko Haram, Israel? Paris? What should I call Muslims who are terrorists hiding behind the religion of peace?
Are these not all the same: A radical Muslim, a radical extremist who is Muslim, a suicide bomber is a Muslim…and Islamic radical is a terrorist.

As Heather pointed out, only a fraction of all the shootings this past year alone, as well as this decade, were committed by so called “terrorists” or “Muslims”. Or would you call the man who gunned down 3 people and injured several others last week in Colorado a terrorist or Muslim? Or how about the three mass shootings my metropolitan area (Greater Seattle) experienced this past year alone? All of them were men. One Asian, one white, one Native American. Only one of them actually proven to have been mentally ill. None were Muslim, or otherwise later dubbed as “terrorists”. The only factor they had in common aside for being men was how easy it was for them to have access to multiple firearms.

So tell me again how the real problem is terrorism, or the mentally ill…

Shea says:

Thank you for saying the part about people with mental illness being more likely to be victims. I hate how so many of these shootings seem to have demonized people who are mentally ill. Does extreme racism or do radical political beliefs and deep hatred even count, officially, as mental illness? I’m not convinced they do. And I will say, when it comes to guns and the mentally ill, I’m concerned about self-harm more than someone harming me. My uncle only bought one gun in his life, and it was the one he killed himself with. This happened mere months after he was hospitalized for severe depression, after an attempted overdose. That should not have happened. That gun should not have been so accessible and it makes me angry that it was. All that rambling to say, I’m tired of people lobbing about mental illness as some kind of excuse, when the real cause is crystal clear: relatively unfettered access to guns.

Laura Adler says:

Fact: Most mass shootings in this country are not carried out by Muslims, they are far more likely to be white men in their 20’s usually Christians.

Adam Lanza’s mother was a gun nut. She practically had an arsenal at her house and taught her mentally ill son from a young age how to use them. She was as much responsible for her death and the death of those kids as her son was.

Alexandra says:

Christine says:

Pardon my fury, but I just had to send a letter to my representative. She has her job only because the woman who SHOULD have the job was shot in the head while trying to meet with her constituents.

So, the Muslims or the mentally ill? Or just those darn liberals? We’re to blame, but not the NRA that claims the answers to all of this is just more guns! Couple of points. One, I don’t know where you live, but where I live services to the mentally ill weren’t cut by “PC.” Those were slashed by Republican budget cuts. That’s on record. Small side point: perhaps if you have a mentally ill child, having an arsenal of weapons in your home is really, REALLY stupid. My opinion, of course.

Second point. The Tucson shooting flies right in the face of every NRA talking point, which is why it never seems to come up. Nice white kid, not a scary Muslim. Clearly mentally ill, but guess what? Legally bought that gun. Brought it to…where? Somewhere where guns weren’t allowed? Silly, this is Arizona. He had EVERY expectation someone nearby would have a gun, and that, in fact was the case. One person said if he tried to respond with his own weapon he would have shot more people. One person reacted but decided at the last second he just could not shoot someone. That person did not correctly figure out that at that point the shooting was over, so had he responded, gun blazing, he would have shot more innocent people. The shooter was stopped by a chair. What would have helped? Background check. No extended magazine (it was when he had to reload that he was hit with the chair and stopped).

So thanks, NRA. You got McSally, your champion, in, and Giffords life is ruined and a bunch of people, including a little girl, are dead. Blood is on your hands and everyone who tries to make excuses for you.

AllieP says:

Of course Muslims are not “the problem”, but we can’t ignore that there is a segment of the Muslim population who hate Americans and Christians.

I’m very sorry for your friend’s loss of her nephew. And I’m sorry we disagree on how to respond to what is becoming an epidemic in our country. It truly hate that we as a country seem unable to respectfully disagree on any issue. Too many of us it seems, believe that if someone doesn’t agree with our viewpoint that they are ignorant or racist. I assure you neither are the case in this instance.

Julia says:

Shea says:

There’s a hateful segment of every population. Interesting how this occurred right on the heels of the Planned Parenthood shooting because we can see exactly how different the response is when the shooter is a white male (which it is in the VAST majority of shootings in this country) or a minority. Everyone is saying the PP shooter is “clearly mentally ill, obviously this just means we need to fix mental health care in this country, blahblah” while the response to the San Bernardino shooters is “Well, there’s just a segment of muslims who hate Americans.” Apparently there’s a segment of radicalized white males who hate Americans, too, given that they’re almost exclusively the perpetrators of mass shootings…and yet each one is treated as an individual, lone-wolf, mentally unstable crazy person. Can you explain that?

AllieP says:

I agree, there is a hateful segment of every population. For the American Conservative Right Wing, The Westboro Baptist Church comes immediately to mind as an example (of a hateful group not necessarily as a violent group – they may be, I’m just not sure either way). And, I think if Adam Lanza, Robert Dear or James Holmes were a part of a larger group with a mission to kill a certain group of people they would have been lumped in with that group. But the fact is that the one thing that they all have in common (other than being white men) is that they all battled mental illness. And I do feel that if we toughen the gun laws in this country without addressing how we service our mentally ill population, we will still be dealing with issues like this.

Becki says:

Shea says:

Yeah, I mean why even have any laws at all? It’s not like criminals follow them. Except even illegal guns have to come from somewhere. The sheer amount of guns we have in this country is a problem. We have nearly one gun per person in this country — that is absurd. If your argument is correct, that more gun laws won’t change anything because criminals don’t follow laws, then please explain why other developed countries with stricter laws have less gun violence.

AllieP says:

I agree. The people who committed that horrible crime yesterday broke several of CA’s already strict gun laws. What will passing more laws do? It’s not the law abiding gun owners who are the problem, it’s the criminals and mentally ill that have no regard for the law that are the problem.

I don’t know how to make this stop. I wish I had more answers. Do we do enough to make both Muslim immigrants and citizens feel like they are a part of our society? Can we do more outreach in the Muslim communities and Mosques? We need to start thinking outside of the box and realize that the “gun control” is not the answer to everything. Timothy McVeigh didn’t use a gun, the terrorists on 9/11 didn’t use guns…people who want to do bad and hurt others will do their best to find a way and a “law” isn’t going to deter them.

Both my 1st grader and my HS Sophomore have had lock-down drills. My 15 year old actually participated in a mock crisis drill to help train local law enforcement and first responders on how to deal with a school shooter. As a parent it is scary as hell. I want my kids safe, I don’t want them to be hated because of where they were born or their religion. But, I am also a gun owner. My husband is law enforcement and we have legally purchased guns for both our protection and hunting and I sleep better at night knowing we can protect ourselves and our family.

I don’t understand the argument that because gun control laws don’t always stop these things from happening we shouldn’t even bother. Ronald Reagan was for gun control, and once said that if only 10-15% these deaths are stopped through stricter gun laws it would be worth passing them. I agree.

AllieP says:

My argument is that we already have the laws in place to stop these things from happening and it isn’t working. It’s time to try something else. Two of the four guns used in yesterday’s shooting were illegal to own in CA. That did not stop the criminals from purchasing them and using them.

Julia says:

That’s the thing, though. If they were purchased legally but weren’t legal in California- don’t you think that MAYBE we should have laws similar (if not even more strict) to California throughout the US? This is what we mean by stricter gun laws because it is THAT EASY to purchase a gun and drive to California and use said gun. I really don’t understand any of your argument, AllieP.

AllieP says:

Julia, the point I’m making is that they had no problem breaking California law, why do you think they’d have a problem breaking federal law?

Heather, I’m not claiming to have all the answers, I’m just suggesting that we look at the problem from different angles. Maybe part of it is passing laws that require better background checks or longer waiting periods but I just think we need to explore other options – services for the mentally ill, outreach to the Muslim communities…ways to bring our society’s disenfranchised back into the mainstream. I’m coming at this from a libertarian-ish mindset. I just don’t think that more laws, more government oversight, more loss of personal freedoms is the answer to fix what’s broken in our world.

Amy says:

I was sad to hear the identity of the two shooters. Sad because now people will try to turn the focus solely to where they came from and not what the bigger issues are. Americans have proven very capable of killing other Americans.

Rachel says:

Those are hypotheses. I have my own totally different hypothesis. Let’s just shout hypotheses at each other while more people die. Why doesn’t the CDC conduct some epidemiological studies to investigate the true causes of this epidemic? Because Congress won’t let them, because the gun lobby said so. So yes, I do, in part, blame the NRA.

DefendUSA says:

Rachel…
Everyone wants to lay blame somewhere. I get it. But how can we continue to deny that If Muslims are killing Americans 3000 at a time or 14 at a time that they are not a danger?
In the same vein, we cannot deny that several “white men” have killed a lot of people and they were all mentally ill. Newtown, Planned Parenthood, VA Tech, Columbine.

Shea says:

Why do the “several white men” (more than several…) get to be “mentally ill,” but when a radical extremist claiming to be Muslim commits a crime, it’s an indictment of Muslims worldwide? If Dylan Roof is mentally ill, so are these two murderers.

Debbie says:

Not all Muslims are killing people, just as not all white men are killing people. Here’s the thing… There are some Muslims killing people that are giving all Muslims a bad reputation – they are called Islamic extremists, also known as Jihadists. That doesn’t mean that all Muslims everywhere want to kill people. The vast majority of them don’t want to; they want to live in peace as well, just as the rest of us do.

Kathy says:

Julia says:

“Below, we’ve provided phone numbers, email addresses… and Twitter handles (when available) for all 535 voting members of the House and Senate. Let’s make sure they know that from now on, ‘routine’ responses just won’t cut it.”

Randi says:

Amy says:

Good, though sad, post. I was at the movie theater this weekend with my two teens and honestly looked around when we sat down for the exit. And when someone would come back in from the lobby, I noticed and watched what they did. Sad state of affairs to feel the need for preparing for disaster at the movies. Paranoid? Probably. Overprotective Mom? Likely. Sad adult facing the realities of this new way of life? Yes, unfortunately. I agree, something must change.

Jess says:

LeeAnne L. says:

I totally agree with you Heather and if I lived in a big city, I would be scared too. We live in small-town Nebraska and although I feel very safe here, it could happen anywhere. It’s a sad, sad situation.

Rachel says:

Of course, school and workplace shootings are horrible, and one should be outraged. But where is the outrage at all these people texting while driving?? As a passenger in our car, I have made it a habit of watching drivers around us, and a frightening proportion are texting or looking at the screen of their cellphone – even while ON the highway at 60 mph, or the highway ramp. Crazy! I think my kids and I are MUCH more likely to get into a horrific accident due to a driver misusing a cell phone than due to a workplace or school shooting. So to reduce the risk of injury and death, don’t drive and text, please!! And where are the workplace educational sessions on using cellphones while driving? Where are the calls for increasing the penalties for driving while using the cellphone? I am sorry for posting this off topic, but I know these shootings make all the headlines although the risk to any one of us is very small, while the risk of a car accident due to inattention by a driver is so much higher.

Sure, texting and driving is a problem. But a cell phone and a car serve purposes beyond TO KILL LIVING THINGS. Just because we fight for stricter gun laws doesn’t mean we should ignore every other problem in the world. We can do two things simultaneously.

Rachel says:

Heather’s post that I was responding to was specifically about school and workplace type shootings – not the daily shootings in poor income/high crime neighborhoods, which are an entirely different animal, and yes, kill and wound many more people than these highly publicized shootings (and if I were to live in one of these high risk neigborhoods, you bet would I worry about the safety of my family on a daily basis! Even though I am in a profession arguably at high risk of workplace shootings – I think the risk is negligible for me, unlike the risk of car accidents by distracted drivers). What’s the purpose of texting while driving? Entertainment? Getting some work done that can’t possibly wait until you get home, but that is not important enough to pull over? I would argue that the main effect of texting while driving is the same as drinking while driving, and should carry the same punishment. It’s so easy for us to blame the very few workplace shooters and gun control politics, while ignoring how WE OURSELVES put the lives of others, including children, at risk on a daily basis.Take a look at the statistics! I just don’t see the same outrage about texting while driving…probably because so many of us do it so frequently. Heck, the punishment for texting while driving is a joke! And fwiw, I am all in favor of stricter gun controls!!

a says:

I am sorry your country is going through this on a regular basis. Perhaps now is the time to look at adapting other countries’ gun laws, no? You know…gun laws of the countries which are not experiencing mass shootings every day and which do not have gun safety lockdown drills [excuse me, what’s?]. HORRIFYING!

a says:

Nikki says:

Crystal says:

I truly do think you might be on to something when you say that people care more for things than for their neighbors. Maybe we all need to put down our phones/laptops/games/netflix a little more and look around and TALK and get to know real people as opposed to apparatuses.

Lori says:

Elizabeth Allen says:

My 6-yr-old explained the difference of a “soft lockdown” and a “hard lockdown” to me last week. “A soft lockdown is there is a bad guy outside the school and we need to stay inside. A hard lockdown is when we have to hide in the closet, stay really, really quiet while our teacher whispers our names to make sure we’re all there.” I had to pull over to the side of the road because I couldn’t see through the tears. This is not ok. And its not going to be ok until people stop saying their right to bear arms is more important than my 6-year-old’s life.

Sandra says:

My children had a “soft” lockdown yesterday because of the San Bernardino incident. We live 30+ miles away from San Bernardino, but because someone put on social media that the gunmen might be headed to Pasadena (7 miles away from us) They could not go outside, and my ten year old came home crying saying there were bad guys outside the school. I am all for being cautious, but the school they go to is tucked up against the San Gabriel mountains in a city even locals haven’t heard of. I had to spend an hour calming my child down, telling her she was safe, all for a rumor put out on social media.

Donna P says:

This nation has become apathetic. Another day, another mass shooting in the news. It’s not even a matter of if it can happen anymore…it’s almost now a matter of when and where. It’s sad, it’s horrific and it’s generating a nation of fear. Our leaders to make a stand soon and stop sticking their heads in the sand. This has to stop.

DefendUSA says:

Someone posted a comment with a link to Wikipedia and the Center For Public Policy being unreliable or whatever.
I know the person who runs that and frankly, I trust him implicitly not to be “Henny Penny” or to lie about conducted research to make it fit the PC window. I do not trust a website like Wikipedia who in the past has shown that others can hack any posting. So, have your opinion, but I would trust him with my life. He has no reason to lie, and the truth is what it is.

Yes, I posted it. You know Frank Gaffney Jr? The Wikipedia article links to almost 20 other reliable sources that discredit everything The Center For Security Policy does, including the Conservative Political Action Conference.

DefendUSA says:

Jim Hanson. VP
I see the SPLC discredits Frank. I think the SPLC is crap. So, let’s call this an impasse. Because I believe there are terrorists here who want us dead.I believe in telling my kids the truth and not being PC. Were the people who attacked in San Bernardino Muslims? Yes. Did they in fact, murder 14 people? Yes. Did they have more than 3000 rounds of ammo and several bombs in their homes? Yes. Did their family have a clue? No. Jihad. But the more people deny that it exists, the more attacks will come.
By no means do I spread hysteria but to deny it breeds more. If we don’t see eye to eye nothing I say will ever change unless you become directly affected. When a “religion” teaches that it’s okay to kill what do you call that? I call it evil. Evil exists. I wish it weren’t so, but it is.

Debbie says:

Yes, it is part of the Koran which calls for violence from Muslims. However, most Muslim people choose to not follow that part of their religion. It is not uncommon for people to believe in one religion, yet choose not to follow all aspects of it.

Jackson says:

Heather — you are in a losing situation when you respond to inane comments (and citations of non-credible sites) of people who try to argue that Muslims are the root of all of the shootings in the US. I’ve gotten to the point where I just walk away from these kinds of pointed finger discussions. They are exhausting.

Becca says:

Well said Heather. The problem is complex and can’t be easily solved. It’s mental health, it’s poverty, it’s video games, it’s violent movies and it’s also GUNS. IT.IS.GUNS. So why don’t we try to do something? Why does anyone need an assault rifle. They don’t. The first amendment only goes so far, I can’t shout fire in a crowded theater. Why is the second amendment totally unfettered? It makes no sense. I know that I don’t have the skill to effect change on my own, so when I did my charitable giving this year, I also gave to http://www.everytown.org. They are active in trying to enact sensible gun laws. There are lots of organizations trying to do the same.

a says:

No, it isn’t normal at all…or I suppose in your country where there isn’t a civil war occurring right now it has become the normal to experience shootings, oddly enough. But, IT SHOULDN’T BE! Again, I’m so sorry!

Alyssa says:

A number of years back we had a man come into our office demanding “money he was “owed” for a property deal”. In reality he wasn’t owned anything because there was a court order against him. He left very angry and proceeded to call me and tell me he was coming back with the police. When I told him ok, fine and hung up he called and told me he was coming back with his gun. I told him ok, well the police you want here will be waiting to meet you and while slightly worried, brushed it off because my past interactions with him. (He never did come back and shortly after he was arrested for fraud)
Point is, back then shooting like this didn’t happen often so no one in our office took it very serious. If this happened today, there would be an extremely different reaction. What changed in those years? Why now? I have a 6yr old who is in school. She is learning about lockdowns drills along with tornado drills. How do you teach a child to be aware, but not be scared. I hate that this is the world she is growing up in and I hate that as she grows up she has to see more of this new world.

Jeanie says:

Jerilynn says:

I don’t even know what to say with respect to this issue. It is multifaceted and very, very complicated. I do, however, want to say that you’re very much on to something, Heather, when you talk about living in a time where possessions are more valued than neighbors. I read an article regarding a teacher and how she attempts to cull out isolated students and why. Clearly, it’s only one part of a larger, complicated problem, but her approach and her thoughts, to me, are such a good starting point. I’ll share it here, if that is okay with you. Would love your thoughts.

I have posted the same thing on Facebook with each of the last, oh I’d say 10 mass shooting. A “mass shooting”, I have learned, is defined as an incident involving a gun where 4 or more people are injured or killed. So, yes I guess the last 10 or so times we have had a mass hooting I post the same thing. Because I hit my wall at Sandy Hook. Then I shut down. Then I got PISSED off.

Then I hit my wall again. Post on FB. I shut down. I get pissed. Lather rinse repeat.

I feel shame. Deep shame that THIS is my country. THIS is the stars and stripes, flag waving, home of the brave “America” we love. THIS is not my country. And the shame is deep. Because the rhetoric, much like shit in a cattle field, is DEEP. And no where, NO WHERE in that rhetoric is consideration for human life. How in God’s name can you lose your beautiful daughter to complications of prematurity, can my brother die as a 6 year old from leukemia and we allow our citizens to slaughter one another when these deaths are preventable???? There is too much that cannot be prevented. How can we continue to stand by and allow this?

I have written all my state senators. I have written my congressmen. I have written the president. And then I write again. And nothing. I thought to myself, education. Try and understand the opposing point of view. There is a fabulous book called The Second Amendment, by Michael Waldman. Did you know that the entirety of the 2nd Amendment is only twenty-five words long? Did you know that it wasn’t until 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller that SCOTUS first addressed and passed any notion that the 2nd amendment had anything whatsoever to do with the right to bear arms, own a gun, to protect your self, your family, your property?

Lather, rinse, repeat. Oh, and as per my FB status…

I weep for our nation, I weep for our world.

“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.”
? John Lennon

I wish there were some kind of solution. I feel that if someone really wants to get assault rifles and shoot up a mall or something, they will know the connections to the black market and will be able to get all that they want. Or they can steal them from someone they know who has them. The bad guys will always find a way. There is not way to get rid of the black market. Drugs aren’t legal but people get heroine and meth every single day through a “black market” — the same is true for guns and assault rifles. Making stricter gun laws….I hear that as a solution for the average Joe not having guns and such…but for those who are going to do bad, they will find a way to get what they need to do bad.

So, should we not even try? There are laws and limits and regulations on driving, but people will still speed and run red lights. Should we get rid of speed limits and traffic signals? Good gun owners should want it to be tougher to get guns. Sure, some people will ALWAYS find a way. But some people will be deterred. Like Reagan said, even if we stop 10-15% of these incidents, it will be worth it.

FWIW, my state passed stricter weapon sale laws last year. Many of those campaigning and voting for them were themselves gun owners. The majority of “good gun owners” however, seldom speak up like this. In the aftermath of the laws actually passing, the vocal minority who feels their rights are being infringed was definitely featured in the national media a lot more than the silent majority of local gun owners.

aqua6 says:

I agree completely. Her school likely should have had a lockdown drill by now. I think CA public schools have to have regularly scheduled fire, earthquake, lockdown drills – maybe monthly so by November she should have had all of them.

You know what I hate is the fact that tonight there was a shooting at a Walmart 900 feet away from where we live this won’t make any news other than our local news because it was only one shooter and only one person got hurt. What makes me angry is that in the burbs of Chicago that’s nothing. Other than the fact that the shooter is still loose, my 20 year old thinks I’m crazy for telling him to be careful as he goes to do laundry. But my 10 year old guess what happened as she and I went out to pick up dinner. After all what does 20 police cars blocking every entrance to a shopping mall, an ambulance driving away and the police car blocking try’s entrance where we were was from 3 towns over. How should a 10 year old even have an inkling about that. Made for a good conversation on the way to get dinner. I am personally so angry over this and the other shootings no matter how small or how large they are all wrong. I respect another’s right to bear arms… But I also respect my own right not to have guns anywhere near me or my family…. How does one right trump the other? Raising a son with no impulse control has ingrained a deep hatred for guns, because accidents can happen and people these days are just so stupid…. My faith in humanity is at basically zero. And right now I’m just so so angry, seeing all the flashing lights outside your bedroom window really brings it home. And this is so strange because I have never gotten so angry at a thing/situation before. People heck yeah especially the ex… And the boy when he was growing up drew out some anger and exasperation. But things I usually accept and let roll off my back…. Heck even my dads cancer diagnoses last week has me stressed out to the max but not angry. But shootings ugh makes me so angry… And makes me wish I could come up with a solution.

Laurie says:

Stephanie says:

As an outsider, I moved to California for 8 months in 2014 for work. I had to take active shooter training at the job because there had been a shooter in that building. I couldn’t believe it. I spent a good amount of time at my desk wondering what I would do if someone came into the open room of 100+ people and started shooting. This is not something I ever have to think about at home. Every time my husband or I have to travel to the US for work it’s something we think about. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live like that all the time.

Auntie_M says:

God, I didn’t even know about the GA shooting until I read your blog. I decorated the house the other day not to carols but to the news reports on San Bernardino.
My niece’s school has done multiple drills this year…she loved going out the window. My heart silently broke. She’s 6 for God’s sake!
I wept for Obama as he made that wonderful speech after CO. He has had to make far to many of them.
I used to be for people’s rights to own A gun. (Not assult rifles or military grade weapons, but A gun.) But NOW. NOW I’m with you. I’m done. Things must change. This has to end.
Sending you love.

DefendUSA says:

There will always be people who disagree with me. I would like anyone here to look at this poll from June 2015. Yes, it is by that organization Heather says is not credible, The Center for Security Policy. It was done by a polling company and the questions asked are posted with percentages in regard to answers. Read it all, and ask yourselves if the 100% Muslim respondents should be taken seriously. Because if we consider that we have nearly 3 million Muslims in this country and there are 25% in this survey who believe it is okay to act out against what they consider and offense to Islam, how many more San Bernardinos are we going to endure before we keep “calmly” going about our business and listening to politicians who say that the “real” war is global warming. Here’s a thought: What is going to kill faster? Warming and cooling, or one terrorist with a gun, a bomb, a knife, a remote control car for kids strapped with explosives? I’m asking for people to use common sense.

And I want to know why you aren’t addressing ANY of the other shootings. Like I said, this post isn’t about terrorism. What about the 354 other mass shootings in the US this year that didn’t have terrorist ties?

Shea says:

First of all, the sample size in that survey is extraordinarily small. 600 people? I had more people than that in my high school. Second, this is probably far too nuanced to even bother explaining if you actually take the CSP seriously, but I’ll try anyway. The survey demonstrates a clear lack of education about the tenets of Islam. Example: people love to bandy about the word “jihad” as translating to “holy war” but that’s not accurate. It literally means “struggle” and is a pretty general concept in Islam. It can mean an internal, personal struggle to serve God, for example, which I think people of all religions can related to. It is not inherently violent, but has been twisted by extremists to imply violence. That’s why they’re “extremists”–because they take an innocuous concept and turn it into something evil. Even if you go by the defintion of “a struggle to defend Islam,” that is not inherently violent. I think any religious person would defend their beliefs, no? All this to say, when the survey asked about jihad, those responding, Muslims who are actually educated about their own religion, are likely not even thinking of anything violent at all. Creating a divide between Muslims and everyone else is exactly what ISIS wants. They want to be able to tell people, “See? The world hates you. We told you. Come work with us.” Don’t play right into their hands by spreading hate without being educated about what you’re discussing.